Northwest Region Leads Russia’s Technology Push
Two significant European Community-backed information and communications technology (ICT) projects for northwest Russia took place in St. Petersburg within the last month.
Nov 28, 2007
Two significant European Community-backed information and communications technology (ICT) projects for northwest Russia took place in St. Petersburg within the last month, with the final conferences of the EU-sponsored "Development of Interactive Services of Internet-based Government to Business in Northwest Russia (G2B-NWR)" project, led by Steinbeis GmbH&Co. KG Technologietransfer at St. Petersburg State University on October 26 in connection with IMS-2007 (5th All-Russian Internet & Modern Society Joint Conference).
The team leader Jean-Jacques Kudela summarized deliberations by restating the basic issue of the project: that any kind of G2B services consist of three elements: two actors (the administration and business) and the Internet; G2B services improve and make easier a mutual exchange of information; and finally that they contribute to removal of barriers to business.
The use of internet makes it possible for the administration to reach citizens and companies everywhere and provide them with detailed information. The exchange between administration departments at different hierarchical or geographical levels is also benefitted.
The use of the internet makes it possible for companies to gather practical business information from different departments they are working with, as well as send requested information when bidding for contracts. G2B services treat small to medium enterprises (SMEs) on an equal footing with big companies and small city firms with big city firms. Four electronic services (URLs) with this aim have already implemented.
But how far is small business ready to use the services offered by the state and by the EC-countries? The parallel development of another ICT project helped answer this question.
Before the final conferences of the EU-sponsored project "E-Skills for Russian SMEs — Phase II," team leader Christian le Blanc spoke about the projects outcome.
The current conference relied on the experience of previous "E-Skills for Russian SMEs" project, which covered only St. Petersburg and Novgorod during the years 2005-2006. The new project expanded theseoperations that included nine regions in the Northwest Federal District. Its main aim is to prepare SMEs for Russia’s upcoming joining of the World Trade Organization and to improve their competitiveness in this new environment.
The project’s team and the partners network reached this outcome through the following plan:
However, statisticians, economists, and accountants still face severe problems measuring the effects of ICT investments. Quantifying a company’s investments in computers and software is quite simple, but calculating the effects of such investments is extremely difficult. Contrary to specific equipment such as a crane or a truck, a computer does not seem to have any consequence for productivity at first glance.
Vladislav Sokolov, an ICT project consultant and deputy dean of the mathematics faculty at Petrozavodsk State University, gave a positive example of ICT implementation with the calculated effect of such investments on a self-service food shop occupying 500 square meters with a staff of 76, located in the Karelian capital. Before joining the project the shop already had computers connected to a local area network. An ICT-audit conducted on-site showed that the existing equipment and software did not control the business processes in the enterprise properly, which led to the stable monthly losses amounting to 1 million rubles ($41,000). The owner of the shop found this figure acceptable.
An ICT consultant proposed to buy and install code scanners in order to control the movement of goods in accordance with the accompanying documents: from the truck to the store, from the store to the shopping area and from that area to the cash desk. The data after the first month with the new equipment showed a decrease in losses by half to just 500,000 rubles.
Dr. Hans Van Vliet, head counsellor of the thematic section of the European Commission Delegation to Russia, participated in both conferences and in short speeches emphasized that an e-Government is the one of conditions for the development of civil society in Russia and that the outcome of "E-Skills for Russian SMEs: Phase II" provides an example for other Russian regions.
Sergey Zimin, a speaker from the office of the representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Northwest Russia, who was strongly involved in the projects, spoke on the efforts by authorities to support the competitive development and creation of a middle class as a basis of political and economic stability of the state.
The team leader Jean-Jacques Kudela summarized deliberations by restating the basic issue of the project: that any kind of G2B services consist of three elements: two actors (the administration and business) and the Internet; G2B services improve and make easier a mutual exchange of information; and finally that they contribute to removal of barriers to business.
The use of internet makes it possible for the administration to reach citizens and companies everywhere and provide them with detailed information. The exchange between administration departments at different hierarchical or geographical levels is also benefitted.
The use of the internet makes it possible for companies to gather practical business information from different departments they are working with, as well as send requested information when bidding for contracts. G2B services treat small to medium enterprises (SMEs) on an equal footing with big companies and small city firms with big city firms. Four electronic services (URLs) with this aim have already implemented.
But how far is small business ready to use the services offered by the state and by the EC-countries? The parallel development of another ICT project helped answer this question.
Before the final conferences of the EU-sponsored project "E-Skills for Russian SMEs — Phase II," team leader Christian le Blanc spoke about the projects outcome.
The current conference relied on the experience of previous "E-Skills for Russian SMEs" project, which covered only St. Petersburg and Novgorod during the years 2005-2006. The new project expanded theseoperations that included nine regions in the Northwest Federal District. Its main aim is to prepare SMEs for Russia’s upcoming joining of the World Trade Organization and to improve their competitiveness in this new environment.
The project’s team and the partners network reached this outcome through the following plan:
- the elaboration of strategies to assist SMEs in learning the potential profitability of e-economics and conduction of the training to convert opportunities into real revenue.
- the elaboration of strategies ensuring the creation of an SME’s support network structures for the best practice dissemination and the learning of successful business-models using the assistance of 50 locally trained consultants.
- the elaboration of strategies to assist SMEs in entering e-economics (for example by Internet solutions implementation for small businesses).
- the elaboration of strategies of regional administrations to support local SMEs in enforcing ICT implementation by resource centers with regional budget funding.
However, statisticians, economists, and accountants still face severe problems measuring the effects of ICT investments. Quantifying a company’s investments in computers and software is quite simple, but calculating the effects of such investments is extremely difficult. Contrary to specific equipment such as a crane or a truck, a computer does not seem to have any consequence for productivity at first glance.
Vladislav Sokolov, an ICT project consultant and deputy dean of the mathematics faculty at Petrozavodsk State University, gave a positive example of ICT implementation with the calculated effect of such investments on a self-service food shop occupying 500 square meters with a staff of 76, located in the Karelian capital. Before joining the project the shop already had computers connected to a local area network. An ICT-audit conducted on-site showed that the existing equipment and software did not control the business processes in the enterprise properly, which led to the stable monthly losses amounting to 1 million rubles ($41,000). The owner of the shop found this figure acceptable.
An ICT consultant proposed to buy and install code scanners in order to control the movement of goods in accordance with the accompanying documents: from the truck to the store, from the store to the shopping area and from that area to the cash desk. The data after the first month with the new equipment showed a decrease in losses by half to just 500,000 rubles.
Dr. Hans Van Vliet, head counsellor of the thematic section of the European Commission Delegation to Russia, participated in both conferences and in short speeches emphasized that an e-Government is the one of conditions for the development of civil society in Russia and that the outcome of "E-Skills for Russian SMEs: Phase II" provides an example for other Russian regions.
Sergey Zimin, a speaker from the office of the representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Northwest Russia, who was strongly involved in the projects, spoke on the efforts by authorities to support the competitive development and creation of a middle class as a basis of political and economic stability of the state.